buying a laptop - opinions

I'm currently looking at getting a laptop and so far I've found one that I'm pretty fond of online. Here

If anyone can give me any reason why this laptop and myself should not be joined please speak now. I'm planning on using it for mostly website design and graphic design. Not a gaming machine. Just programs like illustrator and photoshop.

If its an AMD chip then it will require DDR (double data rate) soDIMM RAM.

Basically take your processor's bus speed and double it (probable either 333 MHz or 400 MHz). Acers site for the 1520 says 333 Mhz, but you can use either 333 or 400.

Also, make sure you buy "laptop specific" soDIMMs. I don't know whether you will need the 144 pin or 200 pin soDIMMS for that laptop so best check when the manual arrives.

The integrated unichrome graphics probably aren't the best though, especially if you are doing alot of graphics and/or gaming. In which case you might be better off splashing for the optional Geforce 5700go Graphics.

Not that they should be the final word or something but it's always good to hear what various sources recommend.

There's actually a pretty good website out there that has all kinds of notebook reviews and recommendations and forums with people who seem to know quite a bit about notebooks but I can't remember the URL.

I'm curious to how much Ram I can put in this laptop and what model is it? I checked on acer.com but I'm still not sure.

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Theres a great site for determining exactly how much memory you can fit in - go to www.crucial.com and follow the steps on the 'memory adviser'. it will tell you the max RAM you can install for your particular model.

This really helped me, I managed to upgrade the RAM on my laptop with no trouble!

I'm swaying to PC because of price and the fact that I've been using them so long. I think when I end up getting out of school I'll probably get a desktop G5 for work. My school uses macs and I have no compatibility issues with my PC so I'm not worried that the industry standard is apple.

I bought a PC laptop, a basic HP machine, a year ago. Once the first paycheck from my summer job arrives, this one's gonna get replaced by Apple - probably by the $999 iBook. Personally I cannot understand why anyone would want as poorly designed hardware or software as Windows laptops are.

However, if you are set on a Windows machine, I'd personally stay away from that Acer machine anyways: First, Acer's aren't that good cheapo's - I found my HP much better. Second, that is quite heavy and large, so you wouldn't be taking it anywhere - if your primary reason for a laptop is to save table space, then it's ok. And third and most important, it has integrated graphics chip which eats some of your system memory, which is something you don't want especially if you are going to do any graphics related stuff.

Ok guys. I think I'm going apple. I think it just took a little push to get me to realize what I really need.

Here is my full situation:
This summer I am going to be doing an internship out of state for a graphic design company. So my plan is to buy and bring up a 12" powerbook G4 and about 700$ worth of sowtware. I also want to bring my current desktop 17" monitor and mouse and keyboard and use the mac like a desktop while at the office and take it alone on the road when I'm out gigging.

Any thoughts? I'm also asking my internship supervisor for ideas. I'll be back on around 4pm Mountain time but thank you for all of your help.

Definitely a good idea to go with the Mac, especially with the graphics work you will be doing. You can get the 14" for $1199 with the education discount - be sure to do that. Also, wait until Tiger (newest OSX) is released and included with the computer. I think it is like 16 days before it is available. You will love your Mac.